Life researchers and physicians work to discover cures for diseases, develop drugs, and learn about our world. Their job cycle contains the unusual requirement of publishing their discoveries in scientific and medical journals as well as the need to compose grant applications to acquire funds from both public and private sources. Increasingly, life scientists use Internet Web sites (“web”) to discover the tools and/or products necessary to complete their research as well as communicate with their peers. The best source of tools and/or product information is within peer-reviewed scientific publications in which the publishing scientist is required to disclose the exact products (name and manufacturer) used to perform a particular scientific application. The tools and/or products are listed in detailed “scientific methods” sections in the publication which allows other scientists to repeat and validate the discovery. This information, however, is embedded in the “Web” and also in private subscription-based forums, making it difficult for any single researcher to find a complete assessment of a sought-after tool or product, or even tools or products that would have a bearing on his project that he may not be aware of.
On the other end of the spectrum, life science product manufacturers are seeking to identify scientists to market their products to. To reach scientists, manufacturers rely on trade shows, product listing sites, advertising in print scientific journals, online advertising, and purchasing lists of validated email lists. Still, it is often difficult or impossible to evaluate the validity of a “sales lead” discovered with these methods. Again the information needed lies hidden in the large unstructured data set of scientific publications, grant applications, and Internet Web sites.
Therefore, there has been a long standing need in the scientific community as well in the scientific vendor community for a mechanism that efficiently provides concise and relevant information on product use, viability, success and so forth. Systems and methods for addressing these and other needs in the communities are elucidated below.